The Keeper of Kitties
by apriiil
Summary: When Laxus took the job as the royal pet caretaker, he sure as hell didn't expect to be looking after literally ten cats. Three-shot.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/Ns:** Greetings! So. There's an explanation for this fic. First of all, it was a request from the lovely **Empress of Everything** , and it was just one of those weird prompts that I just knew I had to actually write... even if it did take me five months just to get 4500 words (which is really only half done, by the way). _

_Anyway, since it was getting long, I decided this would be one that I split up into shorter parts. So this will be a **three-shot** story, maybe four. We'll see. I do have a little bit more than what's posted here written, and since this is one of my priorities, I'm hoping to get this one completed in the next month or so, so I can cross it off my list. This is one of two LaxLu/LaLu requests I need to finish (the other is just a drabble so I won't be posting it here. Only on tumblr). _

_I didn't want to wait until I'd completed it all to post it though, so for now, I hope you enjoy the beginning of it! Disclaimer though: I'm trying to make the setting somewhat "realistic" but most of it is vague because this wasn't a fic I wanted to do a ton of research for (sometimes I just need a break from story research, y'know?). Things in this story will not be realistic for the time period it's set in. Things in this story will not be realistic for the setting as a whole. Don't say I didn't warn you._

 _Alas, that's all from me. Please remember to leave a review if you enjoyed! (P.S., I won't be sharing the prompt this story was based on until it's finished. Sorry!)_

* * *

The royal castle was daunting, and even having lived in Acalypha all his life, just beyond the castle's grounds and in the bustling town, Laxus still thought the palace was monstrously large. Except for the last twenty-three years, Laxus had only had the pleasure of seeing it from beyond the castle's walls – the massive stone fortifications that surrounded the castle and the Queen's Garden. The castle itself had always been open to the civilians, for the king saw the townspeople on a regular basis, but never once had Laxus even gone in. He'd had no reason to.

Now though, as Laxus stood right in front of the wooden doors, right at the top of the stone steps of the castle, he had a reason to enter the castle. And he'd be a filthy liar if he said that he wasn't just a little intimidated by the Heartfilia Palace.

"Oi, you gonna just stand there all day or something?"

Laxus unfortunately felt his cheeks flush as one of the knights standing on the steps right outside the large doors drew his attention, but his face was quickly turning to a scowl. "Mind your own damn business," Laxus muttered, only to have both armour-clad men before him quickly step into position and cross their halberds in front of Laxus's chest.

"I'd watch it if I were you," the other knight warned him.

Laxus continued to glower at the two knights. He didn't like being warned or threatened – especially when there was no substance to it. "Or what?" he chided. If he'd been intimated before, it was quickly fading to nothing as he stepped forward again until the flat side of the halberd was against him, just barely digging into him. He wasn't scared of them. Not even close. "You going to lock me up in the stocks? Throw me in the dun—"

"Laxus!"

He was too busy challenging the knights to have heard the woman rushing across the courtyard, and he only noticed her presence when she was coming up behind him and screeching his name.

Laxus had recognised the voice as soon as he'd heard the shrill sound, so he wasn't surprised to turn to find the butterscotch-brown brunette with the simple, oval glasses glaring at him as she rushed to his side. And at her, he found himself stiffening in fear. The guards didn't scare him, not one but. But Evergreen?

She had her moments.

"What the bloody hell are you doing, Laxus?!" Evergreen hissed at the man next to her, only tightening her fingers as best she could around his bicep to begin tugging him away from the guards. She ignored said guards' snickering at the far too obvious shift in the man (how novel that he was scared of a woman half his size, of all things) before actually turning her attention to them to apologise on behalf of the idiot. "Please forgive him, guards. My friend here tends to get a little lost sometimes—"

"I do not!" Laxus hissed back, only to have Evergreen reach up with her free hand to slap the back of his head.

"He didn't mean anything he said, I promise," she continued, smiling hopefully and politely to the guards with the very pointy weapons. The last thing she wanted was Laxus to get his head chopped off. Well, most of the time, at least. Sometimes he probably deserved it but that's not the point. The point was that Laxus had somewhere else to be right then, as did she. "Now, please, if you'll just let me get him out of your, er… hair. I promise he will not bother you again."

The guards looked to each other apprehensively before one shrugged and they both lowered their halberds to their former positions by their sides. It was still early in the day so they were still in good moods. Laxus wasn't going to be the biggest idiot they deal with that day, that was for sure. They could let his attitude slide just that one time. "Alright, he can go," the first guard mumbled with an obvious exhale.

"But if he comes this way again," the other guard continued, "Then we won't be so nice. Now get outta here."

"Of course, thank you." Evergreen bowed her head politely before grabbing Laxus's ear and pulling the howling man away from the main entrance and back to the large courtyard.

Laxus unwillingly let himself be dragged across the quiet castle courtyard by the ear, figuratively kicking and literally screaming the entire time. "Damn it! Ever, let me the fuck go!"

She did, eventually, but only once he'd been led down a small set of stairs tucked behind an old produce cart and a pile of wooden and metal shields needing repairing. The stairs only led to a small wooden door, and the worn stones beneath his feed had Laxus guessing that it was where all of the castle's servants and staff entered – they certainly couldn't go through the main gates. Oh no.

Evergreen confirmed his very suspicion with a cold glare and a huff of annoyance as she laid her hands on her hips. "Didn't I tell you not to try and use the main entrance?"

"I don't know…" he mumbled.

"And what do you do?" she continued judgingly. "Try and use the main bloody entrance. God, you're lucky you didn't get put in the stocks for that stunt."

Laxus rolled his eyes. You'd think he would be used to the woman's lectures at that point in his life, but he really wasn't. They still proved to bore the hell out of him. "They wouldn't have done shit. They're all talk and no action," he insisted. He still wasn't scared of them. Hell no. Them deciding to let him go just made him more certain of how much they were lacking in the downstairs department.

It was clear to Evergreen that the man really did have no idea what he was saying, and as much as she wanted to get the truth into that thick skull of his, she just didn't have the time to. Not right then. She had things to do. "Ugh, whatever." She could only sigh before turning to the old wooden door and unlocking it with a large brass key. With Laxus soon following her down the cold stone hallway, Evergreen said, "This is the door you need to use whenever you enter or leave the castle, got it? By under no circumstances are you to enter through the doors at the front. I mean it. You don't even need to be anywhere near that part of the castle, to be perfectly honest."

Laxus nodded and sighed as he continued to follow the woman at her brisk pace. He'd almost forgotten that he was actually there to work - not that he was sure how he'd forgotten it - but with Evergreen beginning to lecture him about what to do and what not to do, it was sure as hell the only thing on his mind.

How Laxus had managed to find himself an employee of the royal family, he still didn't quite understand. It really hadn't been something he'd expected to have happen, but the opportunity had arisen and... Well, Laxus had needed something to do with his time, and looking after the royal family's pets seemed like a pretty easy job. He got given a roof over his head, food, and even gold. He really hadn't been able to say no to it - especially not when it had been Evergreen who had told him about it in the first place. She'd have just gone on and on about how she wastes her time doing nice things for him.

So as he followed her, going from one tiny room to the next as she picked up fresh linens and hand towels, she told him all about his responsibilities as the _'royal pet caretaker'._ As far as Laxus saw, all he had to do was keep the stupid animals alive - whatever those animals may actually be. He figured his job was just going to be feeding a couple of dogs and walking them around the grounds to keep them occupied or something. Any horses the family had would be cared for by the stablehands.

Evergreen babbled on all the way through the castle, and after what felt like an eternity of listening to the woman fill him in on the workings of the Heartfilia castle, they seemed to finally reach their destination: somewhere on some floor. Honestly, every hallway looked the damn same - stone walls, boring art on the walls, ridiculously large rugs everywhere... He remembered passing another courtyard in the very centre of the castle, but that was about it. He'd mostly just been following like a sheep. It was hard not to zone out when Evergreen spoke at a million miles an hour sometimes.

"Now, the princess already knows that someone has been hired, so just say your name. Nothing else. You're not here to socialise with her, okay?"

Laxus blinked with his return back to reality. The princess? _No one said anything about any princesses..._ Part of the reason he'd agreed to take the job was because it wasn't supposed to involve people! And Laxus... Laxus wasn't exactly good with people. Or more accurately, he wasn't good at talking to them.

But now, he was supposedly meeting the goddamn princess? He hadn't signed up for that shit. "W-Wait, Ever, what the—" Laxus unfortunately didn't get a chance to ask just what the fuck had been going through his friend's head for her to not mention anything to him about actually being in the presence of other people, before the woman in question was opening up a set large double doors at the end of the stone corridor and revealing a lavishly decorated bedroom.

As he followed Evergreen in through the doors, Laxus couldn't help but me amazed at how much furniture was actually in the room. He'd expected there to be some differences from where he slept, simply because he wasn't even close to being wealthy. But as he took in the plush four-post canopy bed, the armoire and chests with the intricate patterns carved onto the doors and drawers, and all of the tasselled cushions on the chairs and the fine rug and the art and even the overgrown fern and flowers next to the large, open window… Laxus was truly seeing how differently they lived. They lived… beautifully, if anything. And comfortably. And even though Laxus had never really cared that much about materialistic things, his damp room above the old pub in one of the poorer parts of the town was quickly beginning to look like crap.

He was suddenly thinking of taking up that free bed down in the servants' quarters. It was rightfully his anyway, assuming he kept the job…

Evergreen's annoyed huff brought him out of his slight trance and he looked up to her with an eyebrow raised. "Hmph. Looks like she's already up." She wasn't even that surprised that the princess was up and about, to be honest. It was like that most mornings.

Laxus could only be relieved at that, even if Evergreen was seemingly frustrated about it, judging by the crease in her brow. "Good," he muttered. "Now I don't gotta see her… Not that I'm sure why I needed to in the first place…"

"Because, Laxus," Evergreen replied in a rush as she quickly ripped the silk from the bed. "Just… Just because." Admittedly, there were some things she'd failed to mention to Laxus about the job, simply because she knew how picky he was and she knew full well that he wouldn't have even agreed to taking it if he'd known exactly what his duties included. Evergreen didn't have any intentions of explaining the full details of his new job right then, either.

He rolled his eyes and groaned loudly. Laxus hated it when the woman was vague; it usually meant she was up to something. For some reason though, Laxus didn't think much of that right then, and instead just flopped himself down onto the nearest chair so hard that it nearly toppled backwards. Evergreen only scolded him and warned him to be careful, and then was quickly adding the fresh linen to the bed.

Eventually, after Laxus had asked if they were done there exactly seven times, they were finally leaving the princess's chambers and Laxus surprisingly found himself struggling to keep up with his friend as they rushed down the corridor once again.

"Now where are we going?" he groaned. He hoped the answer was outside, but knowing Evergreen, Laxus doubted it.

"Will you stop asking so many questions? Sheesh… You'll use up your yearly question quota if you don't be quiet," she mumbled. It was weird for Laxus to be talking so much as it was. He wasn't a very talkative person by nature, yet that morning he didn't seem to want to shut up. After convincing one of the other servants to take all of the princess's soiled linens down to the help's quarters, Evergreen took Laxus all the way down to the ground floor of the castle once again, across the inner courtyard, and through to the East wing of the sprawling palace. As they were nearing the one room of the castle that Evergreen knew to always look for the royal heir, she turned back to Laxus behind her and said, "Now, I mean what a said earlier. Just introduce yourself, and if she talks to you – which, she will – try not to be your usual grumpy self and roll your eyes, alright?"

He rolled his eyes at that and got a slap on his arm from the woman. "Alright, alright," he muttered. Although, Laxus did have to admit he wasn't quite sure what to make of what Evergreen had said. He wasn't grumpy… At least not _all_ the time. It wasn't his fault people were morons and he didn't have the patience to deal with them.

They stopped at an inconspicuous door in the cold, stone corridor; the only colour in that part of the hall were the bright red tapestries hanging over the tall windows, and the masterfully woven rug beneath his feet. Evergreen knocked twice on the large doors and was then pushing them open in the middle by the polished brass handles.

For a second, Laxus thought he'd somehow been transported to a tropical rainforest in whole other country. Of course, that being impossible, he quickly realised that he was in the castle's large and ridiculously humid conservatory. Full and luscious gardens lined either side of stone path leading towards the centre of the room, and as far as Laxus could tell, there wasn't a single space in the room that had been left free from any kind of tropical looking fern or tree, other than the paved spaces, of course – though even on that, there were gem-encrusted pots with other bushes planted in them.

"Come now," Evergreen said, and Laxus followed the woman without complaint.

The limestone path curved around a large rain tree with branches that extended all the way up to the ceiling and created a canopy over the path, and below it were all kinds of ferns and shrubs that grew in abundance; only the odd flowering plant broke up all of the green. The tall arched windows that lined each of the seemingly sky-high walls let in more than enough light to make up for the comparatively cold interior of the rest of the castle. Out of the corner of his eye, Laxus saw a bush rustle and he stopped dead in his tracks. "Uh… There aren't any wild animals in here, are there?" he asked cautiously.

 _Wild? No, not at all…_ "No, now hurry up." She beckoned him towards her and scurried along the path again. Just because it was Laxus's first day and he'd probably not do much, it doesn't mean everyone else got to take the same liberties. She had other things to do.

So Laxus followed her once again, only to stop dead in his tracks when they reached the open space in the very centre of the room and he saw a blonde sitting cross-legged in her bedclothes and surrounded by more cats that Laxus had ever seen at any one time. One was climbing up to lay across her shoulders, another was stretched out on her lap and enjoying the attention, others were just laying in the sun from the many windows, and another was even climbing the cherry blossom tree planted just behind her – though how and why they'd managed to get that to grow indoors, Laxus wasn't too sure. He did have to admit it was kind of pretty, though… Well, for a tree at least.

The blonde looked up just as a tiny calico kitten emerged from under the skirt of her nightgown and began to pad around curiously. "Oh, good morning, Evergreen!" the woman said once she spotted the two.

Evergreen curtsied while Laxus just stood there in shock. "Good morning, Your Grace," Evergreen replied. "You're up early this morning, if you don't mind me saying. I expected to find you in your chambers being so early."

"Yes, well…" The blonde picked up the calico kitten before it got too far away and snuggled it with a slight giggle. "My little prince here decided it was play time and started pouncing on me, so I decided to just come out here to play with them all this morning since they like the trees and the sun." She turned her attention to the man staring wide-eyed at her then, and couldn't help but try and hug her kitten a little tighter. She liked to think she knew everyone that worked in the castle – much to her father's disappointment – but him... She didn't recognise the man with the lightning shaped scar over his eye, though he was a little intriguing; she wondered how he even got such a scar. "And who's this? I haven't seen him before, have I?" she asked softly.

"Oh. No, Your Grace. You haven't," Evergreen replied. She had half the mind to slap Laxus over the back of the head then for just staring with that goddamn grimace on his face, but not in front of the princess. Oh no. Clearing her throat and just hoping for the best, she introduced her friend: "This is Laxus, Your Grace. He's the new, uh… caretaker."

"The caretaker?"

"For your cats."

"Oh… I see…" she mumbled.

Evergreen cleared her throat when the princess looked down disappointedly. "And, uh…" she began quietly, looking between her and Laxus beside her. It was hard not to notice the eye twitch of her friend – clearly realisation had struck him already and it was obvious that he wasn't exactly pleased to find out what it was he'd been brought into… "Laxus, this is Princess Heartfilia, Heir to the next throne of Fiore."

The princess pouted and let out a little huff of annoyance. " _Princess Heartfilia_ ," she muttered mockingly. "You know I hate it when you call me that."

"R-Right, yes. I apologise," Evergreen stuttered. She knew all too well how the princess hated being referred to by her title, but alas, Evergreen wasn't exactly employed by the princess herself. No, she was employed by the royal family, and at the head of that royal family was King Jude. And boy, was he a force to be reckoned with when he wanted to be. Thankfully, King Jude didn't deal with the castle staff himself. That was the Mest's job, and he was far more reasonable than the king… Still, despite what the princess preferred to be called, Evergreen still liked to do her job correctly, and most of the time, that just mean referring to the princess as she should properly be referred to.

Well, at least when there were others around them. Like Laxus, for example.

Clearing her throat, Evergreen corrected herself while gesturing between the princess and her friend beside her again. "Laxus, meet _Lucy_ , otherwise known as Princess Heartfilia," she said, getting at least a quick smile from the woman in question.

"I, uh…" Laxus still wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing, and for an awkward moment, Lucy only stared at him as a smirk grew on her lips as he just stared back. But then Evergreen took it upon herself to help him, and following her orders, Laxus quickly knelt down on one knee and bowed his head respectfully where he still stood on the path. "It is the greatest honour to be in your presence, Your Grace," he tried not to mumble, and at the words that had just come out of his mouth, he couldn't help but grimace.

Lucy, on the other hand, only giggled. It was clear as day to her than her new animal caretaker wasn't comfortable. "You can rise, it's okay." The look of relief on the man's face had Lucy snickering again, but her amusement was quickly dying once she remembered that he was really just there to take care of her pets _for_ her, and then Lucy really had no idea what she was supposed to say to Laxus. Instead, she just wrangled the kitten that escaped and brought it back to her chest.

Thankfully, Evergreen was there to clear her throat and ease the awkwardness, even if it was only for a moment. "If… If you'd like, I can give him a tour of the grounds, instead of him getting straight into work," she said. She doubted King Jude wouldn't approve of that, but… Well, it would be for the best anyway. Laxus would be useless as a caretaker if he was getting lost within his first five minutes on the job. "Then I can bring him to you later in the day, if that suits you, Your Grace."

Lucy nodded. "That would be best, Miss Ever," she agreed.

"I'll see to it that Laxus receives a tour of the grounds and meets the other staff then." She bowed briefly and began to turn on her heel before she stopped and asked, "Would you like your breakfast served in your room or in the banquet hall this morning?"

"Oh, in the hall, please. Mother says I need to come out more…"

"As you wish." And finally, Evergreen bowed quickly again to leave. Laxus didn't need to be told to follow his friend, but as he did, he couldn't help but glance back over his shoulder to the princess surrounded by the felines in the centre of the small paved area.

There was something most definitely off about the girl… Laxus just couldn't tell what it was.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/Ns:** Finally managed to get the second part finished, even though it's only been two weeks since I finished the first... But still, this was a request from six months ago and I'm still working on it. I'm getting there slowly lol. _

_Anyway. Not much to say for it. A little bit of Raijindork (I mean the Raijinshuu, not me) shenanigans in this first part, because I couldn't help myself. At this point, this is still going to end with the next part, so I'm reasonably happy with that. I'll have to wait and see how it turns out when I'm writing it and see if inspiration strikes..._

 _As usual, not proofed because I'm lazy, so, sorry for that. I'll get to it eventually. Maybe. Don't forget to leave a review if you did enjoy it though._

* * *

When Evergreen fetched Laxus from the kitchen from where he'd only been trying to fish as much information about the princess as possible from one of the cooks and the resident jester – or Freed and Bickslow, as they preferred to be called – it was already late in the day and Evergreen was just about worn out from being on her feet all day.

"Oh, Ever," Freed sighed in relief when he saw his friend waltzing into the castle's kitchen. He'd long since stopped caring about Bickslow annoying him practically all day – getting in the way and snacking on everything – but now he had to deal with Laxus as well? That was just asking for too much, even if Laxus had been one of his closest friends since he could remember. Freed still needed time to adjust, damn it! "Thank heavens you're here. Please give Laxus something to do."

"Oi, I thought we were friends?" Laxus grumbled as he continued to pick at the bowl long, green… _things_ that had been sitting in front of him. He supposed they were some kind of vegetable, mostly because Bickslow wanted to avoid them as much as possible.

"We are. But I'm trying to work and you're—Bickslow, damn it! Get out of the soup!" Freed spun around and resisted the urge to throw the wooden spoon at his other friend.

The blue-haired man only cackled as he skipped out of harm's way. "Needs more salt!" he added before escaping, and Freed could only sigh and shake his head before returning to the pile of bread dough in front of him.

"As I was saying…" He cleared his throat before continuing, "I'm trying to work and _you're_ getting in the way." The kitchens weren't that large, despite the size of the castle. There were only two other cooks in there, and it was crowded with just the _three_ of them when they were busy preparing the next meal.

They'd all accepted that Bickslow didn't really have anything else to do during the day, and so that was why he spent his days sitting at the decrepit table in the back corner of the room – the same one that all twelve staff of the castle had to squeeze in at to eat their own meals at night – and making comments about everything. But everyone else? Everyone else had things to do during the day, and if _Freed_ was frustrated about having to have dealt with Laxus in the kitchen all day, then he knew the other cooks would've been, too.

"Jeez, sorry for getting in your way…" Laxus muttered. It wasn't his fault he'd had nothing to do all day anyway. He'd been waiting for Evergreen to come and collect him. If he hadn't known Freed though, he probably would've been wandering the grounds and getting lost. And really, Laxus didn't think he'd been getting in Freed's way that much. Sure, he'd wandered around a little and stuck his head over his shoulder a few times to see what he'd been up to, but he hadn't been as bad as Bickslow… _Right?_

Evergreen only giggled. "I shall take him off your hands then," she said. It was later than she'd have hoped to be taking Laxus back to the princess, but she'd asked Lucy if she was ready for him earlier in the day as well, and she'd said no. Evergreen had been about to escort Laxus back to the other side of the castle when she spun back around and quickly added, "Oh, I almost forgot. Have you prepared the cats' dinner yet?"

" _The cats' dinner_ …?" Laxus echoed.

"We have, yes," Freed answered. He had to quickly ask one of his fellow cooks where the meal had been left, and was then soon pulling out a large, covered tray from under a bench and carefully handing it to Evergreen. "They should enjoy that."

She lifted the serving lid and peeked under it before dropping it back down, stopping Laxus from getting a peek as well. "Oh, I'm sure they will," she agreed, and without another word, Evergreen was turning on her heels again and exiting the busy kitchen in a hurry.

By the time Laxus caught back up to her in the cramped, lower-floor corridor, she had already commandeered a serving cart to lay the tray on and was rushing her way down the hall. Thankfully, catching up to the woman had been just a simple task for Laxus, so once he did, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks and asked with a huff, "So where the hell are you taking me now?"

"To the princess," Evergreen answered quickly. "Did you forget?"

"Forget what?"

She rolled her eyes – she took his answer as a yes. "I told you this morning after leaving you with Freed in the kitchens that I would come find you when the princess was ready to see you again," she said. "And, she's requested your presence."

"Right…" Laxus hadn't forgotten, though. Oh no. He'd been thinking about it all goddamn afternoon. His fact-finding mission in the kitchen with Freed and Bickslow hadn't been informative in the slightest though, much to his disappointment. Bickslow had only shrugged and said he'd never really talked to her aside from this one time (that he refused to share details on), not having had a reason to – he was there to make her laugh, which he did a lot (supposedly); and Freed had only ever seen her once as it was, just to discuss what meals her pets would like each night. Of course, Laxus had gotten the feeling that Bickslow at the very least had been keeping knowledge from him, but from what Laxus had learnt, it was that out of all the castle staff, Evergreen was the only one who knew anything about the princess at all. And that made sense, considering she was her handmaiden after all.

Still, Laxus was confused as all fucking _hell_ about just what it was he was supposed to be doing, and just why the fuck he'd had to wait all goddamn day for the damn princess to be _'ready to see him again.'_ Wasn't it her duty to see people, being the princess of the fucking kingdom and all?

Honestly, Laxus was already regretting his decision to agree to taking the damn animal caretaker job. It was quickly seeming like it was going to be frustrating, and Laxus didn't do _frustrating_.

They arrived at yet another set of obnoxiously large double doors in the south wing in no time, and before Evergreen could knock on them politely, she stopped and turned back to Laxus. A frown etched on her lips and Laxus didn't get a chance to ask just what was making her make that face at him, before she reached out to smooth her hands over his collar and his shoulders, readjusting the centre of his shirt and vest to make him presentable. "Tuck your shirt in and roll your sleeves up," she ordered with one final glance, and Laxus obliged with a roll of his eyes.

Only then did Evergreen knock on one of the large doors, and after a moment she pushed it open and entered the still brightly lit room from the afternoon sun filtering through the large west-facing window. Laxus followed in slowly behind Evergreen, and his jaw just about dropped to the ground for the second time that day when he saw all the four-legged furballs wandering around the room and climbing all over the furniture.

Evergreen bowed her head and blindly reached back just to slap Laxus' arm with the back of her hand – thankfully he got the message and hesitantly bowed his head, too.

"Yes, Ever?" Lucy smiled politely to the two from where she sat on a plush armchair, no doubt covered in cat hair.

"You requested the keeper's presence, Your Grace," Evergreen said, gesturing back to Laxus just behind her, who at that point was just trying to shoo the monstrously fluffy white cat that was pawing at his boots away from him. "So, here he is."

Of course, Lucy already knew that, but she couldn't help but giggle as she'd began watching Laxus try to shake the pet away discreetly. But Lucy knew her cats, and, well… She knew that fluffy, old _Sprinkles_ wasn't going to be leaving the new caretaker alone anytime soon – which was honestly worrying, at least from Lucy's perspective. "You might want to take your boots off," Lucy said as she set her calico kitten down on the top of its own little cat-castle she'd had made and approached the others.

Laxus looked up in surprise before he quickly glanced back down when the cat started to claw at his leather boots. "Damn it, you…" he hissed, but stopped himself short when he remembered the princess was now standing right in front of him. "What about my boots?" he tried not to grumble, as usual.

Laughing, Lucy repeated, "You might want to take them off." And she wasn't the least bit surprised that the man only continued to look at her like she had a third eye, so with a roll of her eyes she added, "Sprinkles doesn't like shoes. She'll try to eat them off your feet." And for good measure, she even lifted up the layers of the bottom of her dress dragging along the floor, just enough for her to expose her own bare feet and wiggle her toes.

Evergreen had to stop herself from turning and hitting her forehead against the nearest wall. The princess was… Well, she was odd at times, but Evergreen hadn't quite expected her to be her usual self around Laxus _that_ quickly. Especially considering the fact that Evergreen knew how little Lucy actually wanted Laxus – or anyone else with his job title – there, as well as how shy she'd been just that same morning. But how quickly the princess could accept something – or someone, as it turned out – was something Evergreen knew to be part of her distinct charm.

All Evergreen had to worry about now was Laxus, it seemed… Since Lucy seemed to have accepted the fact the king had requested someone be hired to care for her beloved animals.

Clearing her throat then, Evergreen chimed in, "I fetched the cats' meal as well, Your Grace."

After picking up Sprinkles and saving Laxus' boots (for the time being at least), Lucy turned back to Evergreen to see just what it was her fur-babies would be getting for dinner that night. Her face lit up with a bright smile as Evergreen lifted up the covering tray to reveal the ten ceramic bowls, all with the same boiled game hen in them. "Oooh! Yummy! You'll enjoy that tonight, won't you, Sprinkles?"

The cat meowed at her owner's excitement – or really, she just meowed for the sake of it.

"Well, uh… Was there anything else I can do for you?" Evergreen asked.

"No, no, that will be all," Lucy beamed. And after Evergreen told her she'd collect her again once supper was to be served, the handmaiden turned on her heels and exited through the large doors, leaving Lucy alone with her cats and the new caretaker.

Laxus felt ridiculous as he stared down at his now bare feet, boots off to the side by the door. Surely it was all some kind of joke. And what kind of princess didn't wear shoes? And _damn_ Evergreen for leaving! Laxus didn't want to be left alone with the princess! He was bound to say something stupid – and the idea of spending the night in the stocks, or worse, the dungeon, didn't appeal to him. He still didn't have any idea what he was supposed to be doing.

With the cats being able to smell their dinner, they all slowly came to swarm around Lucy's feet. The chorus of meows made Laxus grimace, and he stifled the urge to hit his head on the stone wall behind him – he figured it would be less painful than the sound he was hearing.

"Okay, okay," Lucy giggled. It was a struggle to set the food dishes down on the ground without stepping on any of her fur-babies. _Maybe I should have Laxus help…_ That was what he was there for, after all. With two of the bowls in her hands, she turned back to smile politely to the awkward man and asked, "Do you think you could help me put all of these down?"

 _Is she talking to me?_ "Huh?"

"On the ground," Lucy said. "Can you help me put all these food bowls in a row on the ground?" She finished by placing the two dishes in her hands down right next to each other, then pointed down at the cats and sternly said, "Ah-ah-ah, just wait."

Laxus just watched in amazement as the princess gently bopped one of the cats on the nose when it ignored her order.

"Kinsey, what did I tell you?" she scolded the Siamese. "Just wait. And you too, Jinx! Just wait a little bit."

And the fact that the cats listened to her that time, their eyes trained on each dish she picked up and set down in a row in front of her, seemed to just amaze Laxus even more. "You… trained them?" he mumbled, finally moving from where he'd been frozen in place and staring, to pick up two of the bowls of cat food.

"Of course! Well, most of them are trained, like the older ones, but some of them…" Lucy bent down to pick up the calico kitten that was already nibbling away at the boiled meat in the bowl and scratch its ears. "Some of them are still learning, like my little prince here."

Once all the dishes were laid out in a long line, Laxus stood beside Lucy with his arms folded and looking between the princess and the row of cats, all patiently waiting behind their bowls and watching their owner, waiting for her to finally let them eat. The kitten was the last to be set down, and it didn't take very long for the small animal to begin wandering away, and with a roll of her eyes, Lucy stepped forward to pick it up and set it back down in front of its own food bowl, right at the end of the line. And since they'd all been so good, waiting patiently and quietly for their dinner as they did every night, Lucy finally gave them the command they'd been waiting for with a bright smile on her lips: "You can have it now!"

And once again, Laxus was just left feeling utterly amazed as all ten of the cats standing before him began to eat. They didn't stick to their own bowls, of course – they shared, moved around, tried to push their feline siblings out the way… But damn it, they were cats! And the _princess_ of all people had trained them!

"Do you, uh…" He cleared his throat as the princess beside him plopped herself down on a cushion on the stone floors, tucking her feet under the skirt of her dress. "Do you do this every night?" Laxus asked.

"Do what?"

"You know, feed them. By yourself."

Lucy gave the man an odd look as she glanced up to him. _What kind of question is that?_ "Of course," she answered before adding quietly, "Although I guess that's your job now…"

"Why though?" Laxus asked then.

"What do you mean?"

"Why is it my job now? I mean, you obviously got it all under control…" At least that was the way Laxus saw things, but then again, he'd only actually seen the girl feed and cuddle the damn creatures. But wasn't that all cats needed anyway? Laxus didn't really know – he didn't particularly like cats. But still, he got the impression that Lucy had everything sorted, so really, what was he there for?

Shrugging, Lucy cast her eyes down to the floor, right in front of where her cats were all standing around the line of food bowls, tails in the air and heads in the food. "Well, because it's not a princess's job to take care of her own pets, is it?" she mumbled. "Father says it's unbecoming of a princess to bother herself with such tasks…"

Laxus scoffed. "Well, that sounds pretty fucking stupid." And as soon as the words left his mouth, Laxus realised just how horrible they'd sounded. Because he'd pretty much just called the mother fucking _king_ stupid. And sure, he kinda did mean it, too. But he'd just said it do the _princess_ – the king's _daughter_ – and by god, was Laxus terrified of what was going to happen to him. Quickly, he held up his hands in defence, waiting them in front of his face quickly as he tried to explain, "N-Not… Not that the king is stupid, or anything. I'm sure he's smart as hell, being the king and all… Shit, _please_ don't put me in the stocks or something—"

"Calm down," Lucy giggled. "No one will be getting put in the stocks – we don't even _use_ them anymore, anyway."

"Wait, you don't?"

The princess shook her head. "Nope."

"Really?"

"Really," she laughed.

"Huh… Those lying bastards…" Laxus mumbled to himself. Damn those knights for threatening him with the stocks! They'd been nothing but talk. _If I ever see those ass-hats again…_ And damn it, _Evergreen_ had lied as well! She'd told him to keep his mouth shut unless he wanted to end up in the stocks – the ones that didn't even bloody exist. _Damn that woman._

She had such an annoying habit of not telling the entire truth about things.

But, once Laxus stopped thinking about the moronic knights and the fact that the royal castle didn't even use stocks anymore (thank fucking god), he went back to worrying about how he'd still kind of, sort of insulted the king – well, indirectly, but _still_. And Lucy had just fucking laughed at him, and by god, was Laxus confused as hell right then. So cautiously, he asked, "You ain't gonna tell anyone I said that, right?"

"Why would I?" Lucy wondered aloud. She didn't think she had a reason to tell anyone what Laxus had said.

He scratched the back of his head. "Well, y'know, because of what I said..." If Lucy told on him – which, really, Laxus thought she had _every_ reason to – then he'd be completely fucked, regardless of the fact he hadn't meant to say it, or at least have it come out that way.

"Oh. Well, you don't have anything to worry about."

"No?"

Lucy shook her head as she looked up and flashed a quick smile. "No."

"Can I, uh… ask why?" Laxus mumbled.

"Because I agree with you."

Now that, he hadn't been expecting. "You… _huh_?" How the fuck did she _agree_ with him?

Lucy couldn't help but giggle again. _He's a funny one._ At least if Laxus stuck around, she'd have some kind of entertainment that wasn't from her cats being stupid or the court jester being his usual self, and Lucy liked to think she'd be able to get used to that. "I agree with you," she repeated. "It _is_ stupid. My blood doesn't make me any less capable than anyone else." She was still a person, and contrary to popular belief, she was very well capable of looking after herself _and_ her animals.

It was just that her father didn't quite agree, but there wasn't really much she could do about it. He was the king, after all, and Lucy had learnt the hard way just how strict he'd become after the passing of the queen. She wasn't even allowed _outside_ anymore – the closest she got to feeling sun on her face was in the conservatory, or when she sat next to her window in her room and looked out across the castle grounds.

Lucy didn't give Laxus a chance to ask anything else or say anything else before she laid her hands flat on the stone floor to push herself up, and then dust them on the skirt of her dress to turn her attention to the man watching her carefully – annoyingly so, if Lucy had to be honest – and forced a smile. "Now, I guess I should start explaining your new duties, right?"

There was no better time to start like the present. Though by the time Evergreen returned to collect Lucy for her dinner in the hall, she was only walking in to find Laxus on the ground, eyes puffy and nose red, clothes covered in various colours of cat hair, and six of the demon animals sitting and walking all over him. And Lucy, of course, was just sitting in the corner and giggling quietly to herself.

The new caretaker was funny when he was grumpy.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/Ns:** And finally, the last part is complete. I wanted to have this up earlier in the week, but my week was busier than normal, between two different vet visits for two rats for two completely different problems (all over my tumblr for anyone curious, the damn pets...), and then Rakan and Xayah got released on League and... Yeah, I've been playing a lot of League of Legends again lately because Rakan is love. Anyway..._

 _This chapter was harder to write than the others. Partly due to the fact that I have trouble writing Laxus (this is why I write so much of Bickslow, because he's just so damn easy for me to write now), and partly because of how this chapter didn't really go the way I'd originally planned. Though as far as 'plans' go, most of this story was just vague ideas and scenes that I needed to figure out how to pull together anyway._

 _There'll be a few more notes at the end for this one, just because it's the end and I promised I'd share the prompt at the end. ;)_

* * *

In the three weeks that Laxus had been at the castle as the royal pet caretaker, he'd come to learn a few things.

Firstly, he was allergic to cats. Thankfully, not deathly so, but enough to drive him insane from having a stuffy nose, watery eyes, and having to sneeze every fucking ten minutes. Of course, the court physician – the evil old hag Porlyusica – had concocted a simple draught for him that reduced his suffering, although she hadn't done so without complaint and every time Laxus went to visit her at the end of the week for a new bottle, he had to listen to her mutter and complain under her breath about how busy she was and how she didn't have time to make silly little antidotes for cat allergies.

Secondly, Laxus came to learn that he really fucking loved having a roof over his head, somewhere dry and warm to sleep each and every night, and being able to eat hot meals three times a day. He couldn't remember ever having had the luxury of all of those at the same time, and by god, did Laxus love it.

And thirdly, it was that the princess and her damn cats were equally as fucking strange as each other. Actually, that was a lie. The princess was far stranger. And so far, there hadn't been a single day where Laxus _hadn't_ been left utterly speechless by something the woman had said or done. The weirdest thing Laxus had witnessed so far was Lucy climbing the cherry blossom tree in the conservatory to get one of her cats down – Maya, the ridiculously _huge_ Maine Coon – from one of the top branches. Of course, Lucy had gotten herself stuck in the tree as well, and Laxus had been the one to get her down. And as it turned out, Maya had been capable of getting herself out of the tree anyway, because while Laxus had been too busy getting the flailing and panicking princess out of the tree, the damn cat had climbed down and landed gracefully in the garden. Maya just hadn't _wanted_ to leave the tree.

But, the last thing Laxus had come to realise, and although he wouldn't admit it to anyone – not willingly, at least – was that he liked his new job. And he liked the weird princess, too. The cats were annoying as all hell sometimes (or most of the time, really, because they seemed to fucking love crawling all over him all the damn time), but his job was _easy_ , and that was what he liked about it. Turns out, cats didn't really need much looking after – at least not by _him_.

The arrangement he had with Lucy was that she still did most of it herself, but for all intents and purposes, Laxus did everything. You know, for when the king's _dog_ came to check on the precious princess in the middle of the day to make sure that she wasn't still spending too much time with her cats. And since most of Laxus' time was actually spent in the princess' quarters, the conservatory, or the _'kitty play-room'_ with Lucy, whenever there was a knock on any of the doors, they'd each quickly get into position so Lahar would be none-the-wiser when he walked in. Lucy would be sitting and reading or just looking pretty like she was so good at doing, and Laxus would be feeding the cats treats or something.

Honestly, fucking with Lahar was pretty entertaining, too. In the few weeks Laxus had known the king's royal _guard dog,_ it had become pretty obvious to Laxus that the guy had a massive stick up his ass. And being able to deceive Lahar of all people on a near daily basis was incredibly thrilling – especially so to Lucy.

But, still, Laxus didn't do much. And he was perfectly okay with that. All he really did was watch them to make sure they didn't get into too much mischief, take them for walks outside in the sun since Lucy couldn't do it herself (although taking them for a walk was really just wandering around the courtyard and the Queen's Garden and letting the cats follow him since they'd annoyingly taken a liking to him), and help Lucy feed and groom them. It wasn't by any means a difficult job, being the royal pet caretaker – though Laxus supposed that his job would've been much more annoying had the princess not been quite so stubborn.

As far as Lucy herself went… Well, Laxus had to admit he didn't quite know much about her. Not really, at least. He'd come to learn that she could be a little spacey at times – usually in the mornings – and that she could go from running her mouth off at a million miles an hour, talking about everything and anything that seemed to enter that brain of hers, to giving one word answers and barely even looking up from the floor or her hands in the space of just a few moments. But he spent practically every single day with her, and aside from knowing she had some pretty damn strange mood swings, he knew nothing. And for some reason, that annoyed Laxus.

There had to be a whole lot more to the woman than her title – and hell, hadn't Lucy kind of made a point of that herself by agreeing with him when he'd blurted out it was stupid that she wasn't supposed to look after her own pets?

Granted, Lucy didn't know much of anything about Laxus either, but Laxus didn't really think there was anything worth knowing about him anyway. Plus, he wasn't exactly there to socialise with the princess and become best friends with her, even if that was what had happened. Sort of.

Still, _he_ wanted to know more about her. And Laxus thought there was no better time to ask than right then, where he only sat against the mosaic window, looking between the courtyard through the clear panels and Lucy on the floor with the cats and a ball of twine. "You know…" Laxus began, idly rubbing Zyra's (the nine year-old Bengal) ears on his lap. Ever since he'd been introduced to all of Lucy's cats, Zyra was the one that had taken a liking to him and decided that he was to be her new human, not Lucy. And honestly, Laxus didn't mind Zyra that much. She was the grumpy cat, and her hair was short so she didn't make him sneeze as much as the others did. "When I took up the job as the _royal pet caretaker_ , I didn't exactly expect to be taking care of literally ten cats. Well, sort of taking care of them, I guess."

Lucy let out a nervous laugh. "I suppose it is a bit strange at first…"

"Why do you even have so many?!"

That, Lucy stopped laughing at. And she stopped playing with the twine and the cats, and just let the calico kitten that had still yet to be named something other than 'her little prince', and let him paw it away from her hands to continue playing with himself.

No one had ever really bothered asking her why she had so many cats. People had commented on it, told her that it was excessive and that no one respectable should have so many damn pets (or pests, as her father liked to call them). She'd heard some of the castle staff say things behind her back over the years, too – her handmaiden before Evergreen had been the worst as far as snide comments went. Every opportunity she had, she was off with one of the stable hands and laughing about the _poor, stupid princess._ And she hadn't cared if Lucy overheard at all, which she had, on multiple occasions. Thankfully, it hadn't taken long for Lucy to have that handmaiden sent away, and then Evergreen had come along, and Evergreen really was lovely.

For the most part, at least.

Still, no matter how much people talked about the fact she had ten cats, no one asked the reason why. But Laxus was asking, and… Lucy admittedly didn't really know how to answer it. It wasn't because she didn't know the answer, though, because she did. It was more of a case that she just wasn't sure how much of an answer she should actually give Laxus, because he didn't really want yet another person to laugh at her or ridicule her for something that she'd honestly had no way of avoiding.

Laxus noticed how quickly Lucy fell silent though, and how she seemed to be silently considering even answering his question. He had thought it was a fair question… but maybe not. Not if it was making her get all quiet and shy again.

"I mean, I guess you don't _have_ to tell me—"

"No, it's just…" Lucy bit her lip when she interrupted him. She sat up just enough to crawl over to the stone wall next to where Laxus sat on the windowsill, and brought her knees up to her chest. Laxus watched the way her fingers drummed a repetitive rhythm on her shins over her dress before she finally continued softly, "I just don't want you to laugh at me…"

He cocked an eyebrow at the quite admission and tried not to scoff. "Laugh at you? Why the hell would I laugh at you for having ten—wait, never mind. Now I see it…" It honestly was pretty damn funny if he thought about it, because as far as he could see, no one in their right mind would or _should_ have ten cats.

But for the most part, Laxus personally didn't laugh much. So he very much doubted that whatever it was Lucy could say would make him _want_ to laugh. Even _Bickslow_ had a hard time making him laugh, ever since they'd met each other when they'd been kids, and the guy had grown up to get paid to make people laugh. Laxus just didn't laugh, and sure, he could see the comedic value in the princess having so many damn pets, but he still wasn't going to laugh. To him, it was just more strange than anything.

"See?" Lucy murmured.

Laxus sighed. "Come on, I won't laugh at you," he promised. Damn it, he wanted to know the answer now. He was too curious for his own good. "Tell me."

She looked up at him and just studied him for a moment. And as far as Lucy could tell, she could _trust_ Laxus right then not to laugh at her – or at least Lucy _hoped_ she could. She'd really come to enjoy having the caretaker around in the last few weeks.

Looking back down to her bare feet with a single nod to herself, Lucy took a small breath before softly admitting, "I… I don't really have any friends. That's… That's why I have cats. Because I wanted… friends…"

 _So she's lonely._ Honestly, it made sense.

"We don't visit other kingdoms very often, and… other royal families don't visit us, either," Lucy continued just as quietly. "The only people I know are the ones who work in the castle or the grounds, and… And I can't exactly talk to _them_."

"Right, because you're the princess and we're just the hired help. Got it," Laxus mumbled bitterly.

"No! That's… That's not what I meant!" Lucy tried to quickly explain. That wasn't what she'd meant at all, and she hated that that was all Laxus thought of her – that she was nothing more than spoilt, arrogant princess that she _should_ be.

"Then what?" Although Laxus didn't think he _wanted_ to know what she meant. He supposed that was what he got for being curious, though – reminded that he was nothing more than the fucking _cat caretaker_.

Lucy, on the other hand, needed to explain it. Laxus could judge her all he wanted afterwards (although she hoped he wouldn't, because she really had come to like him). But until then, it wasn't fair for him to just assume the worst of her. "They just… They don't _like_ me," she said. "And they _talk_ about me. I hear them. I hear them laugh at me, because of my cats, and… And I can't talk to them…"

"Bullshit," Laxus scoffed. "No one says anything about you."

"You haven't been here for very long," Lucy pointed out. "And Evergreen says you don't really talk to anyone else anyway."

Laxus shifted uncomfortable on the sill. "Wait, you talk about me with her?"

An embarrassed flush caressed her cheeks as she gave the man a shy smile. "Well, you're not exactly the most talkative of people, and I wanted to know who was going to be taking care of my babies."

 _Damn it, Ever…_ He made a mental note to deal with the wench later before crossing his arms across his chest and shrugged indifferently. "This ain't about me, Blondie. Don't turn this around."

" _Blondie_? You're one to talk…" she mumbled. "But fine. You still don't hear them. _I_ do, though. And the staff here… I've heard how they laugh at me. They're not the kind of people I _want_ to talk to…"

"Well, I didn't laugh, did I?"

"…No."

"And my _friends_ don't laugh." Or at least Laxus didn't think they did. They were good people, Evergreen and Freed and Bickslow. None of them were the most sociable, of course – just like him – but they weren't _assholes_. Well, for the most part, at least.

"Well, I know _Ever_ doesn't," she murmured.

Laxus shrugged again. "Well, there you go then. You've got me and Ever at least." No one really needed dozens of friends. As far as Laxus was concerned, you only really needed one or two really great friends. It was quality over quantity with friendship, at least the way he saw it.

Lucy looked back up to him with renewed heat on her cheeks. She'd considered Evergreen her friend for a long time now, and she knew that Evergreen didn't hate her back. But Laxus… Was he saying what she thought he was? "Do you mean you… That I'm… That I'm your… friend?" she whispered.

"W-Well…" He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away sheepishly. Well sure, Lucy probably was close enough to being his friend, now that he thought about it. They spent enough time together, and it wasn't like Laxus minded spending so much time with her – he enjoyed it if anything. So hell, maybe Lucy really was his friend. Although Laxus really never did think he'd come to see the day where he was friends with the fucking _princess_. "I guess so… Sure…"

She felt so warm and happy and giddy all of a sudden that she couldn't keep her smile from growing wider. An actual, real, _human_ friend. And one that Lucy really was glad to exist… Even if he had started to slowly steal her cats from her, one by one.

* * *

"Is it cold outside today?"

Laxus blinked at the princess's question and looked up from where he crouched down on the ground, untying his boots, with an eyebrow raised. "Eh?"

"Is it cold outside?" Lucy repeated.

Laxus made a face. "It's snowing. What do you think? It's warm and toasty outside? Of course it's cold outside," he grumbled. It was particularly cold outside that day in fact. But it was the dead of winter, and Fiore was known for its long and cold winters…

"Oh… I see…" Lucy stepped away from the window and wrapped her shawl back around her shoulders. The fire in her chambers took almost all of the chill out of the air, and the last time she'd even set foot outside it had been summer. The best Lucy had been able to do was find a window that opened and stick her hand out, just to try and catch some of the falling snowflakes.

Admittedly, Laxus had forgotten that Lucy wasn't allowed outside anymore – although why that was, he'd never actually asked, and he found himself curious about it. Shooing Sprinkles away from his boots, and shivering from how fucking cold the stone floors were (and wondering just how the fuck the princess was completely fine with walking around barefoot in the middle of fucking winter) once both shoes were off, Laxus picked up Zyra from the top of the armoire next to him and then made to sit on one of the chairs by the fireplace.

"Why aren't you allowed outside?"

Lucy turned to see Laxus looking at her expectantly, Zyra on his lap and getting her ears stroked as always. For some reason, Lucy hadn't quite expected him to ask her that, not then, at least. He'd been there four months. If anything, Lucy had expected Laxus to ask why she couldn't go outside herself when she'd tasked him with taking her cats outside to the gardens every day, right when he'd first started as the caretaker. But now here he was, asking after four months of seeing her each and every day of the week, spending hours with her each morning and afternoon…

Sighing as she made her way over to the chair beside him, only picking up the fluffy feline on it to sit herself down, she answered, "Because Father forbids it."

Laxus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I figured that much out," he mumbled. "But _why_?"

"I… don't really know, to be honest." Lucy shrugged. She knew what she'd done to supposedly _deserve_ being banned from going outside again. She'd just never really figured out _why_ the king had punished her so harshly for it, though. What she'd done hadn't been that bad in her eyes…

"Well, what'd you do?"

She couldn't help but smile at the memory though. She might not have thought she deserved to be put on _castle arrest_ for it, but she did think it was just a little stupid. In hindsight, at least. "I got covered in mud."

"You… huh?"

"I was outside, in the rain, searching in every little nook and cranny outside that I could find, and got completely covered in mud in the process," Lucy giggled. "I even ruined my favourite dress."

Laxus was almost at a loss for words. Although the mental image of the princess covered in mud and drenched was entertaining to say the list. Sill, without any kind of context, Laxus was more than a little confused. Because without it, he was just thinking Lucy was crazier than he'd originally thought – though there was a good chance she was absolutely batshit crazy anyway.

"Alright Blondie, now you have me curious. Why the _fuck_ were you outside in the rain and ruining your favourite dress?" Laxus demanded, only getting another giggle from the princess and an almost mischievous smirk.

"Did I ever tell you how I got my little prince?" she asked in turn.

"Uh, no?"

"Well, the jester – Bickslow, right?" Lucy continued. "He brought him to me."

"He did?"

Lucy nodded. "He said he found him outside, and he didn't want to just leave him outside in the cold since he was so small, so he brought him to me since he knew I liked cats," she explained. "So he came and found me, completely drenched, and gave me this tiny, little ball of fur, all covered in mud and shivering, and asked me to take care of him."

"Huh…" Now Laxus knew why Bickslow had been so secretive about that _one time_ he'd actually talked to the princess. Because he'd given the woman a damn _kitten_. "So how does that lead to you not being allowed outside?"

"Well, after the jester brought me him, I wanted to make sure that he had no siblings hiding outside, too…" The cat in question decided to jump up onto her lap then and meowed up at her – his way of saying _'give me attention, Mother' –_ and Lucy only giggled and lifted him up to her chest to cuddle him. "So then," she continued, hugging her little prince (whose name had actually become her _Little Prince_ after so long of not being able to come up with one), "I went out there, in the rain, and looked everywhere that I could think of. And got covered in mud in the process."

Laxus could only gawk at the woman. "You're crazy. You know that, right?"

"Since it's coming from you, I'm going to take that as a compliment," Lucy grinned. Had it been from anyone else, then she might've been offended, but… With Laxus? With Laxus, she could own her weird, because she knew Laxus didn't mind it.

* * *

Later, Laxus found himself cursing under his breath and wandering the halls of the castle. He was on his way to the princess's chambers, and honestly, he was trying to talk himself out of the stupid act he was about to do.

All night, since he'd said good night to her and gone to eat with the rest of the castle stuff, he'd been thinking about how long it had been since she'd even gone outside. He'd been there for four months, which meant that it had at least been that long since she'd stepped outside herself – although he guessed it was closer to six, with how old the _Little_ _Prince_ was. Himself, Laxus knew he would've gone insane if he'd been cooped up for that long, so for Lucy to have been able to stay sane (or, somewhat, at least), he was honestly _amazed_.

Still, for six months, all she'd been able to do was look out through windows or stand right on the precipice of what separated the outside from the inside. Six long months. Laxus couldn't help but feel bad for her. She'd been cooped up for all of Autumn – his favourite season – and that in itself was plain wrong. No one should miss the chance to be able to sit under a nice tree and watch all the leaves slowly fall to the ground. Hell, no one should miss the chance to jump in a massive fucking leaf pile, either – although that was admittedly Laxus' guilty pleasure, so he didn't really expect anyone else to actually enjoy that.

But, he'd been thinking about it all night, and after laying awake for far too long, he'd pulled his boots on, wrapped himself up in practically all the clothes he owned, and decided to go pay the princess a visit in the middle of the night. Because he wanted to take her outside, because she deserved that.

And honestly, had the princess been anyone else – had she been pretentious, a brat, or everything like a princess should be – then Laxus wouldn't be bothering right then. But she was _Lucy_. And sure, she was the goddamn princess of Fiore and heir to the throne, but for the most part, she was _only_ Lucy to him. A lot of the time, he almost _forgot_ that Lucy wasn't just a normal person, just like him.

But more importantly, Lucy was his friend. And sure, he wanted to kick himself for letting it happen, but at the end of the day, he still kind of cared about her. And he felt bad for her. And he hated that he did.

She had a big heart – a _good_ heart – as Laxus had come to learn. And that was probably what he liked the most about her. And it was why he wanted to try and make her happy too, even if it would just be for a little while, and even if he would get in a whole lot of trouble for it. He figured the worst that could happen was that he'd lose his job, and even that wouldn't be the end of the world – although he would be just a little disappointed. The upside to getting fired would be that he wouldn't have to spend his day surrounded by cats or going to see Porlyusica every week for his medicine to stop him from sneezing.

By the time he was reaching Lucy's chambers, it was late enough that the guards that patrolled the castle (supposedly) were on the other side of the complex, leaving Laxus free to stand outside the princess's doors and have a conversation with himself about whether he was actually going to barge in there in the middle of the night and drag her outside.

He was, apparently.

So carefully, he pushed open one of the heavy doors and crept into the quiet room, only stopping once he reached the side of the large four-post bed that had one hell of a _furry_ blanket on top of it. He crouched down beside it, and peered in the dim light at the mountain of cats in front of him, before tenderly reaching out to nudge what he was sure was the princess's shoulder – the hair sprawled out on the pillow behind her gave her away.

"Lucy," he said softly. Oscar, the grumpy Ragdoll shifted where he laid on top of his master's head, and stretched himself out while digging his front claws into the pillow. Laxus nudged the princess again then. "Lucy, wake up."

Groaning, Lucy slowly became aware of how she was being nudged awake. And only after her brain actually kicked into gear did she actually register it, and then she flinched and moved away so quickly that she almost crushed two of her cats in the process.

"Hey, calm down! I didn't mean to scare you," Laxus said. Scaring her wasn't what he'd wanted to do – but then again, so far he hadn't been punched in the face, and that was what Evergreen had done to him once when he'd tried getting her out of bed.

Lucy rubbed her eyes. She could just make out the scar across his right eye with the small amount of light offered from the oil lamp. "Laxus?" she mumbled tiredly. One by one the cats left to go curl up somewhere else as she pulled herself up. "What are you… What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to…" He paused. Admittedly, he hadn't figured out just what he was going to say once Lucy was awake, so he quickly racked his brain for an answer before he finally continued, "To take you on an adventure." _Yeah, that works._ It was going to be an adventure of sorts anyway. It'd be fun and there'd be danger involved – well, more so for him, at least.

There was just enough light that Laxus could make out the less than pleased look that fell on the princess' face. "An adventure," she repeated. "You woke me up to take me on an _adventure_."

It was quickly becoming obvious to Laxus that Lucy wasn't exactly in the best of moods – not that he blamed her, of course. But he was just a little frightened right then. "Well, sheesh," he mumbled, shuffling uncomfortable on his feet where he remained crouching down at the side of the bed. He was vaguely aware of the pawing he felt at his ankles which was probably just Sprinkles trying to eat his boots. "You don't have to come if you don't want to…"

"Well, I'm already awake and you have me curious. What kind of adventure are we talking about exactly?"

That much, Laxus didn't want to explain. Not yet. But Lucy being curious was a good thing. Instead, he only asked, "Do you trust me?"

Lucy didn't hesitate to give her answer. "Of course I do," she whispered.

"Then come with me." He extended his hand to her, and for a moment, Lucy just stared at it in the dim light before finally accepting it and letting him pull her out of the warm confines of her bed.

When he left to go wait outside her chambers after telling her to find the warmest clothes she could, Lucy felt her heart begin to race. There she was, awake in the middle of the night and about to go off with her damn cat caretaker to god knows where. But she wasn't the least bit scared or worried, because it was Laxus, and she'd been _slowly_ getting to know him over the last four month, and she'd meant it when she said she trusted him. Lucy was only _excited_ to see exactly what Laxus' plans for adventure involved, and when she met him outside her chambers a few moments later, all rugged up, and he took her hand and began leading her through the dark corridors or the castle, she grew even more excited.

He didn't tell her anything until they were outside, and she felt the almost forgotten crunch of snow under her boots. And when it clicked that the adventure Laxus had planned was about her sneaking out of the castle, just to be outside for once after so long, Lucy couldn't keep the grin off her face. Neither could Laxus when it was _Lucy_ then dragging him around, with her hand still in his.

By the time the sun began to rise though, and the snow that had fallen the day before began to melt with the first rays, Lucy was exhausted, and she knew it was time to head back to the castle before the king or the guards or anyone else found out that she'd spent most of her night playing in the snow and sitting in the Queen's Garden with the animal caretaker.

Honestly, it had been one of her best nights of her entire life, and in reality, it had only been a few hours. Of course, she couldn't quite tell if the reason she'd had such a good time was because it had felt so damn _thrilling_ to be doing something she wasn't supposed to do, or if it was because Laxus' face after she'd hit the side of his face with a snowball had been absolutely _priceless_ – she suspected it was the latter, to be honest. Still, the night had to come to an end, and Lucy wasn't really that sad about it.

"I guess I should get back to my chambers before anyone notices I'm not there," she said softly as she picked her head up from the man's shoulder.

"I suppose so," Laxus agreed. He knew that the guards would be starting their morning rounds shortly anyway, and although they wouldn't go into Lucy's chambers, it would sure be suspicious if they found her wandering the halls at the crack of dawn.

Lucy turned again just in time to see Laxus rising from the bench under the gazebo, and stepped forward just to place her hands on his shoulders and push him back down before he could stand. She smiled softly before answering his silent question with, "I don't want you getting in trouble if I do get caught, so it'll be best if you wait here for a little while."

"Oh… Are you sure? I mean—"

"I'm sure," Lucy interrupted him sweetly. Really, it would be a shame if Laxus were to get punished for what he'd done. Lucy didn't want that.

He nodded to himself as he mumbled, "Right, okay…"

For the first time that night though, Lucy found herself just a little nervous and embarrassed. She hadn't even been that embarrassed when Laxus had woken her up and seen her in her bedclothes – though to be fair, he had seen her in them before, when Evergreen had introduced him to her on his first day. But right then, she was, and it was mostly just because she didn't know how she was supposed to say thank you to the man for sneaking her out of the castle, all in an attempt to make her happy. And sure, he hadn't explicitly said that (though Lucy had definitely tried getting it out of him several times, despite how awkward and defensive he'd get each time she brought it up), but she knew that's what it had been.

Just _saying_ it didn't feel like enough though. Not for Laxus. Because Laxus was… Well, Laxus was special. And special people got special thank yous. So Lucy did the only thing she could think of – which also happened to be something she'd found herself wanting to do more than once over the course of the night – and leant forward quickly just to softly press her lips to his cheek.

"Thank you for the adventure, Laxus."

And all Laxus could do was stare at the princess with wide eyes as she turned back around and skipped down the snow-covered path in the garden towards the castle. Suddenly, his face didn't feel so cold.

* * *

 _ **A/Ns:** And there it is. Finished. Done. Complete. I can cross this one off my list now (although really, my WIP list has already grown again, so I'm not sure why I bother trying to finish any of my projects. My list is always going to be massive.) _

_Anyway, as given by the wonderful Empress six months ago, this was the prompt that inspired this strange AU: **"When I took up the job as Royal Pet Caretaker I didn't expect to be taking care of literally 10 cats. Why do you have so many?!"** And naturally, I couldn't just write this as a drabble. I knew when I first saw it that it was going to be a long one. _

_So here's hoping you all enjoyed it. I'll admit, as difficult as it was, it was kind of fun to write. Now I need to get back to my BixLu babies because I miss writing my favourite dorks._

 _Reviews are always appreciate._

 _Until next time..._


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